Georgia State had a great opportunity to nail down a better spot in the coming Sun Belt Conference tournament, but couldn’t get it done.
The Panthers were victimized by too many turnovers and a lack of second-chance points and lost a 68-59 decision to Texas State on Saturday at the GSU Convocation Center.
“We were nowhere near as mature as we needed to be,” Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes said. “I don’t know if we deserved to win this game. We got our tails kicked.”
A win almost would have guaranteed that the Panthers (13-15, 7-9) would avoid a first-round game at the conference tournament in Pensacola, Florida, which begins March 5. The loss means GSU needs to win at least one of its final two regular-season games, both at home, against James Madison on Wednesday or Marshall on Friday.
Texas State (12-17, 5-11) had been struggling. The Bobcats were playing the final leg of a four-game road trip and lost the previous three games, including an eight-point loss at Georgia Southern on Wednesday. It was only Texas State’s second conference road win of the season.
“I feel like we took these guys a little lightly,” junior guard Dwon Odom said. “The turnovers really affected us. We’ve got to stay focused.”
Georgia State committed a season-high 17 turnovers, leading to 13 points. The Panthers were beaten 10-7 on the offensive glass and were outscored 14-0 on second-chance points. Texas State had a 28-20 advantage in points scored in the paint. Georgia State did not make a field goal in the final 6:35.
“You cannot turn the ball over 17 times and expect to win many ballgames,” Hayes said. “Not in rec ball, middle school, high school, JV ball, certainly not college, mid-majors, low-major, DII and DIII. That won’t win a lot of ballgames.”
Georgia State was led by Odom, with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists before fouling out. Toneari Lane scored 13, but was only 3-for-13 on 3-pointers, and Lucas Taylor scored 11.
“Offensively we failed ourselves,” Hayes said. “We shot 54 balls and gave up possession after possession after possession. You get zero second-chance points, you get seven offensive rebounds to go along with those 17 turnovers. Shot selection was bad. It’s just an embarrassing display of offensive basketball.”
Texas State had four players in double figures, led by Coleton Benson with 17 points, Jordan Mason with 15 points, Davion Sykes with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Brandon Love with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Texas State led 31-30 at halftime in a game that featured six ties and 13 lead changes. Georgia State went up by five at 5:55 thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Taylor and Lane, but Texas State called time out, scored six consecutive, and neither team led by more than three points the rest of the half.
Texas State seized the momentum to start the second half. The Bobcats outscored the Panthers 8-3 and took a 40-33 lead after Benson’s 3-pointer and driving layup. Georgia State got to within three points on three occasions before Texas State pushed the advantage to 11 points.
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